Prince William (41) is pushing forward his project against homelessness. As heir to the British throne, he is one of the country’s largest landowners – he is entitled to rental income from the Duchy of Cornwall. In the southwest of England, 24 apartments are now to be built in an initial project with a charity organization. The land required for this in Nansledan near Newquay comes from the duchy.
Construction work is scheduled to begin in September, the Duchy of Cornwall announced on Sunday. The first residential units should be ready in autumn 2025. In the first phase, the focus is on creating accommodation that could be used temporarily until something permanent can be found with support.
“In the UK, the lack of truly affordable housing is leading to homelessness and hundreds of thousands of people living in poor quality temporary accommodation with no support,” said Peter Mackie, from Williams’ Project Homewards expert panel.
The Duchy of Cornwall owns land and real estate in several places in Great Britain. It also includes numerous investments. According to the PA news agency, its value is estimated at more than a billion pounds (almost 1.2 billion euros).
Criticism of the project
In addition to the new project, 200 more apartments with affordable rents are to be built in Nansledan in addition to around 1,000 existing apartments.
The organization Republic, which campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy, criticized the project. The duchy is not William’s personal property and the investment is just a drop in the ocean – compared to what is necessary. “The country will spend at least £3.4 billion on the monarchy over the next ten years,” criticized Graham Smith. This is money that can be invested in houses.
